Notre Dame football: Analysts weigh in on Irish commits

May 06, 2012|By BOB WIENEKE | South Bend Tribune

Note: Tribune staff writer Bob Wieneke early last week spoke with three analysts to discuss a number of topics concerning Notre Dame football recruiting.The following are answers from Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Mike Farrell, CBS Sports Network analyst Tom Lemming and 247Sports.com national recruiting writer Steve Wiltfong.This is the first of three parts.Question: What stands out about committed quarterback Malik Zaire?Farrell: “The first thing that stands out is his character. He’s a really great kid. He’s never going to get in trouble. You can’t predict that 100 percent, but he’s a model, perfect Notre Dame leader.“He’s a lefty, so there’s a little bit of an adjustment there because when you have a right and a lefty, you have to adjust your line a bit, so that’s a little confusing.“But he’s got a strong arm. On film he stands out very well athletically. He can do a lot of things in space and he can do a lot of things when the play breaks down. And he can make any throw. He’s just not big (6-foot-1, 190 pounds). He’s physically filled out, he’s just not tall.“I think for the spread he’s a really good fit for what they want to do there.”Lemming: “Overall athletic ability. He reminds me of a left-handed Tony Rice. He’s got a strong arm that needs to be put under control.“He’s got real good running skills. He’s stronger than he looks. I think when he plays at Notre Dame he’ll be 210 to 220 pounds.“They’ll need a little patience with him, but I think that patience will pay off in big dividends, because he’s got remarkable skills. They just have to be corralled.”Wiltfong: “The upside. He’s a top-end athlete and also has a really strong arm. He has all the things that Brian Kelly wants in a quarterback to run his offense at a high level.“But he’s raw. He plays in a scheme where he’s not asked to do much. When he gets in Notre Dame’s system, he won’t be rushed into the job. He’ll get time to evolve as a college quarterback and grow as a player. The finished product could be pretty darn good.“And if it doesn’t work out at quarterback for whatever reason — and I’m not saying it won’t — he’s a young man that could help at numerous positions. He’s an athlete as well as a quarterback.”Question: How good is the group of committed offensive linemen — Hunter Bivin, Steve Elmer, Colin McGovern, Mike McGlinchey and John Montelus?Farrell: “Very good. It’s a really good class. It’s not Michigan’s class. It’s not Stanford’s class last year, but it’s a really good group. There’s good size in here, guys who can play multiple positions.“I think McGlinchey is a kid that is probably going to get a bump (in his Rivals rating) because the big concern was, is he too tall (at 6-9)? But he’s got a good knee bend and he can play with leverage, and his upside is ridiculous. He could probably have the best upside out of all of them.“The big question, with all of them, as usual with offensive linemen for Notre Dame, is are they nasty enough? You can’t tell that. On film? Yeah. Athletically they’re fine. But will they go there and become nasty football players, because that’s what’s really been lacking along the O-line.”Lemming: “The best they’ve brought in in a long, long time. The Sam Young group (that signed in 2006) proved to be underachievers. Most of them were nationally recruited and still it didn’t pan out.“All five in this group were nationally ranked. You would say the odds are that two or three of them have to make it. New line coach Harry Hiestand’s whole job now should be developing these five guys which then, along with the defensive linemen, can help make Notre Dame a national contender.”Wiltfong: “Notre Dame did a fantastic job of addressing the need of this recruiting class by landing five touted offensive linemen who had their pick of the litter.“They got the four tackles (Bivin, Elmer, McGlinchey and McGovern), and then they got their interior guy in Montelus. It’s a group that’s going to complement each other well.“Football is won in the trenches and you see the way Notre Dame’s offensive line has improved over the last couple years under Kelly. That’s definitely been one of the things that he’s come in and really done a great job with, is improving the physical play and getting the offensive line to where it needs to be for Notre Dame to be competitive.“And then he goes out and recruits these guys that had their opportunities to go to the Alabamas and LSUs of the world.”Staff writer Bob Wieneke:bwieneke@sbtinfo.com574-235-6428